Terminal 21 and the Movies

Ended up staying home this weekend. I decided I didn't want to stay out after midnight. The BTS shuts down and I don't know any Thai, yet. So, I can use Grab Taxi, but I have no back up to that except walking. Sunday I felt really poorly so I stayed home. So, I ended up quite isolated. I stayed Monday, too. However, my legs are a lot better and they have stopped leakin. I will have to be careful where I sit from now on. The first thing to do when I get to Nepal will be to buy a secretary chair like that was at dad's house. Better, yet, I will look for a chair like the one that is in Julie and Sal's dining room.

I was really getting cabin fever, so I went out Tuesday to Terminal 21. After brunch, I saw Beauty And The Beast. It was surprisingly good. The theaters here are interesting.

1. You buy a specific seat; their is no general admission - sort of like going to a live theater performance.

2. The back row is a row of love seats. I was going to take a picture because they were empty last time. This time some people were sitting in them, so I didn't.

3. Goodies only cost about 50% - 60% compared to the U.S. and economy tickets (about 2/3 the theater) are about $4.00 (this was during the day).

4. Due to the heat Bangkok is a night city. There were few people during the day (20 out of 200 seats?). However, They have showings that start after midnight.

5. They have a listing of exactly how long previews and commercials are. There actually seem to be more previews, so previews may be free ones the theater shows and commercials may include previews the studios pay for. The above shows there will be 14 minutes of commercials, 15 minutes of previews, the movie lasts for 2 hours and five minutes, and the total time is 2 hours and 35 minutes.

6. Like we have the national anthem here, we all have to stand up between the commercials/previews and the movie while they play a song for the King while his picture is on the screen.

Here are a couple of pictures from the same spot. One is a picture towards the BTS station gates (3 stories above the street) and the other picture is toward T21 along the skywalk - really convenient!

Here is a picture back toward the BTS station.

Here is a picture of the innards of T21. It is 11 stories high with 600+ stores in the middle 9 floors. The top story is a fitness center and the bottom story is a maintenance floor, although they both have escalators. The elevator you see in the back is one that goes 3 floors at once.

This is from the top of the 3 story escalator.

Another picture showing the innards of T21.

Bye-bye T21. I took this picture of T21 from the loading platform (6 stories above the street) as I was leaving. There are actually 2 skywalks connecting the BTS station and T21. This outdoor walkway connects the 2 outside of T21.

Today is my first day at E88 (a play on the word egg (e88) - a place to hatch ideas), a Co-working place. More about this place and pictures in another post.

Namaste From (halfway to) Nepal

George MacDonald

Before I left I loaded up on zombie stories from fanfiction.net, specifically fan fiction written for the book World War Z. Fan fiction are short stories written in the universe of a book, movie, or television series. Some of the more popular ones, like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings have thousands of fan fiction stories on fanfiction.net. Anyway, I downloaded about 100 for WWZ before I left.

 I have decided to reread some George MacDonald next since his stories are in the public domain and available at the Gutenburg Project.  He lived in the 1800’s and was a Scottish author and minister. He inspired many people, including Tolkein and CS Lewis.

He wrote 2 fantasy stories that are famous, Lillith and Phantasies which I don’t understand. However, people like CS Lewis raved about them. I really enjoy his other fantasy books/stories, though. The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie are a pair of books like the Chronicles of Narnia, except Jesus is the Witch instead of Aslan. He has a bunch of short stories like The Light Princess which are also fascinating. I am starting with At the Back of the North Wind. It is an odd fantasy where one might say that the North Wind is the Holy Spirit. It has a sort of Screwtape Letters flavor to it.

He also wrote a bunch of Scottish novels. My favorites include:

1.Sir Gibbie – about an orphan

2. Donal Grant – a sequel to Sir Gibbie

Many of the others look interesting, also.

Namaste from (halfway to) Nepal

Battlefield Bangkok

Visited the game store for the first time yesterday. It is nice. It has lots of tables and comfortable chairs. Has nice large, clean rest rooms. Like most public toilets, you have to bring your own toilet paper.

It also has its own small coffee bar with cheap coffee, tea, and slushie drinks, both hot and cold, as well as snacks and ramen noodle cups. All the drnks seem to be 50 baht, about $1.35, a lot cheaper than Starbucks. Since gaming is free, I will probably spend 150 baht or so each time to help support the store. We think ramen noodles are to salty and bad for you. But, if you live in SE Asia, you need the salt. Whew!

Like some Thai places, you have to take your shoes off.

There is a hamburger place next door that will deliver. It seems to be the Bangkok HQ of gaming. He has 5 or 6 of each game for sale. Hopefully, I can find one opponent each week for a nice wargame.

Namaste From (halfway to) Nepal

Grab Taxi

Had a good day yesterday. Practiced using Grab Taxi and visited the Game Store (Battlefield Bangkok.)

Bangkok has 4 services to use that are not fixed routes like the Metro or Skytrains or busses. Tuk Tuks are expensive 3 wheeled motorized vehicles that are for tourists and they are expensive.

Taxis are really cheap. I can hail one now in a busy area and there are over thousands of them here. However, calling for one is impossible due to the language barrier.

Uber has started. They are still rare, a bit expensive, and currently illegal.

Grab Taxi is working great. They are the ones the Hotel called for when I was there. For now, they are the main reason I got my new phone the day before. You download their app, just like Uber. Instead of special Uber drivers, regular Taxis sign up with Grab Taxi. Your phone is in English, their phone is ion Thai. You mark your origin and destination on their app, which uses Google Earth. You then press Book It. Your desire is broadcast to all Taxis nearby that are signed up. When one agrees, you notified and their picture appears on your phone. You can watch their little Taxi travel to you on the app. Their app shows them where you are and will give voice directions in Thai if they want. It will also map directions to your destination and even give voice directions again if they want. You can even watch your progress on your own phone if you want. You pay regular Taxi prices plus a 20 baht fee (50 cents.)

I used it both to and from the game store yesterday and it worked great! 61 baht + 20 baht fee to the game store (I gave 100 baht even.) So, the whole trip was less than $3.00. Likewise, it was 79 baht home (heavy traffic) plus 20 baht fee. I gave him 120 baht, or about $3.50.

Now I can go to church on Sunday. I already emailed the pastor of the Bangkok Calvary Chapel Church.

Between Church and gaming I can finally make some friends and not feel so isolated. Whoo - hoo!

Namaste from (halfway to) Nepal)

Terminal 21

Progress is being made. After getting a cramp in my leg on Sat., I rested in my apt on Sun. and Mon. After reading info on the internet and mulling various strategies, I went to Terminal 21 (a shopping center) on Tuesday. I bought a regular Android phone to replace my trac fone type of phone. I have the same phone number. People use their phone as their main device here. Service is cheap - unlimited data, etc. is 200 baht per month ($5.00).

Then, I ate brunch and went to see a movie - Kong. It was good. They are making a trilogy, Godzilla, Kong, and a third monster, I forget which one. Both Godzilla and Kong were good guys - a nice twist.

Lastly I went to Boots pharmacy. Just like the US has 2 major drug stores, Walgreens and CVS, Thailand has 2 major drug stores, Boots and Watsons. They are both at every shopping center in the city. Anyway, I bought a bunch of packets of electrolytes. These should really help. They are packets that you add to water. They are orange flavored, but taste bad - sort of like that stuff you take for a colostomy every 5 - 7 years.

So, it was a good day. The phone will help my mobility and the electrolytes will help my health and help me feel better. In fact, after a couple of days, I definitely feel better. Oddly, I drink a bit more and I get rid of a bunch more from my calves where it pools. They look a lot better and any leaking should be even more inhibited.

So, progress is being made.

Namaste from (halfway to) Nepal.

And, a new week begins. Last week was basically dedicated into moving in to my apartment, getting organized, and developing a routine.

My legs continue to get better as I watch where I sit more carefully. My left leg has stopped leaking, too.

I am adjusting my pills. I had been taking 1 coumadin every day while all this hustle and bustle has been going on the last 3 weeks. I have cut back to eliminating 1/2 pill 3X per week, which was my regular dose.

Saturday, I decided to go to Tescos as I hadn't ridden the BTS in a week, only walking back and forth to it every day. I waited until dusk when it was cooler, only 85 degrees, although it was also about 85% humidity. I had an ice tea while I was there. However, on the way home my leg began to cramp and I limped home in the dark.

I am going to have to push more fluids. I have started taking only 1/2 water pill beginning that night.

It is also interesting the difference meat makes in these harsher conditions. The difference is definitely noticeable. It reminds be of a great biography I read, "A Chance To Die," by Elizabeth Elliot. It is the biography of Amy Carmichael. She was the Mother Teresa of the first half of the 20th century in India. While Mother Teresa concentrated on the poor, Amy Carmichael concentrated on orphans. Like J Hudson Taylor and Mother Teresa she adopted the lifestyle and diet of the locals. Many doctors came to orphanages for 6-8 months at a time from England. She insisted that these volunteers and the locals all eat together to negate the class structure she found in India. But, she found the volunteers were able to do less work than expected. Eventually, it was found the lack of sufficient meat was the cause, since it takes a year or 2 to adapt. So, she re-segregated the dining groups so she could get the most work out of the doctors.

By the way, if you are looking for a good book, "A Chance To Die" is a great read.

Got groceries, and most importantly - water, delivered to my apartment. So, I am all set up to work on my book and work on my health and fitness here. Having a blast.

Namaste from (halfway to) Nepal

My left leg continues to get better. It is very hot here. I walked to the Skytrain/7-11 this morning and returned by 8 am. At that time it was 86 degrees and the heat index was 99 degrees. Wow! We are entering the worst time here, apparently. It was 99 degrees yesterday with a heat index of >110 degrees.

Beware the Ides of March! As the spring equinox approaches, it is the hottest time here. We are under constant UV warnings every day, as well as the sun disrupting satellite communications, like TV signals. They say this will happen until the 24th.

When the going gets tough, the tough . . . melt?

Ain't life fun? (grin)

Namaste From (halfway to) Nepal